This Prize Pig Talks!

We're in double figures!

For Gelatinous Cube #10 we're e-i-e-i-o'ing our way through Adam's dark fairytale encounter "This Prize Pig Talks!"

We discuss why the weird is privileged over the uncanny in RPG creation, horror in the familiar, and motivating players through moral appeals. Plus over preparation and what do if your players sidestep an encounter than you've spent an age crafting.

Then we hurry over to a baleful dinner party, where the Gelatinous Cube is about to serve up a very talkative fish.

Full encounters here!

This Cleric is Good!

Pelor be praised! We've reached our ninth episode and it's time to talk with God.

 

Rosie rocks up with a zealous glint in her eye for a discussion of her favourite character class in "This Cleric is Good!", We consider whether a focus on presence might lend some variety to the Gods of Dungeons and Dragons, and how clerics tap into the deep magic that happens at the D&D table.

And the Gelatinous Cube has a revelatory take on the prompt: a rescue mission that would test anyone's faith!

Full encounters here!

This Egg has a Fairy in it!

Time to take a trip back to Dolmenwood, as Adam unveils a very jaunty pub garden in "This Egg has a Fairy in it!"

We discuss whimsy in RPGs, micro-sandboxes, the magic of taverns and the pleasures and perils of roleplaying downtime.

And as for the cube? A merry little egg companion who may help or hinder, and a very mean birdwatcher to follow it. 

Full encounters here!

This Expedition is Doomed!

Care to make a deal with the Devil?



Captain Vargo is on an expedition to hell and you are very much invited as we discuss Rosie's "This Expedition is Doomed!" We cover Peril and mystery as adventure hooks, greed as a player motivator, and how gothic twists can enliven RPG creativity.

The Gelatinous Cube was on holiday this time around, but we were lucky enough to get some thoughts from the brilliant creators over at the OSR RPG group on Facebook. Huge thanks guys!

Full encounters here!

This Worm is Cosmic!

Obligatory Dune reference!




Episode 6 covers Adam's encounter "This Worm is Cosmic!" Get ready for monsters-as-traps, zero gravity made simple, and the expansive possibilities of prog rock fantasy.

And once we've finished covering worms in space we get to grips with worms in time, as the Gelatinous Cube presents a ride through psychedelic chronology.

Full encounters here!

This Mountain has a Witch on it!

Cackling intensifies for episode 5, as we discuss Rosie's encounter, "This Mountain has a Witch on it!" and get into designing with random tables, the problems of sneaking, and the history of wicked stepmothers. 

Then it's over the the fabulous witch chalet of the Gelatinous Cube, it's filled with all manner of curious staff and set to explode!

Reference-wise, there's a couple of irons in the fire this time around, as Rosie has drawn from Weapons of the Weak by James F. Scott, and From the Beast to the Blonde, by the peerless Marina Warner. 

Full encounters here!

This Backroom is a Trap!

What's behind door number 4?

Why, it's Adam's encounter, "This Backroom is a Trap!" For this unhomely exploration we discuss evil geometry, horror in TTRPG's, and some very nasty decor.

The Gelatinous Cube gets creepy too, presenting a scenario which weighs stunning revelations against the risk of becoming lost forever.

Not sufficiently unnerved? You can get stuck into the backrooms here, or take a turn through Charlotte Perkins Gilman's troubling short story The Yellow Wallpaper. 

Full encounters here!

The Moon is Full!

Tonight the moon! 

For Gelatinous Cube #3 we lift our gaze upward, considering Rosie's lunar magical encounter "The Moon is Full!" Your hosts discuss aesthetics as worldbuilding, the economy of bonuses, and the beauty of grounded magic. 

But lo! What thoughts has the big jelly one? Gather your party and gird your loins, for the Buck Moon rises...

Full encounters here!

This Daimon is Drunk!

For our second act we discuss Adam's encounter, "This Daimon is Drunk!" 

We talk daimons, decisions, and drunken quests, as we visits Necrotic Gnome's beautiful Dolmenwood setting and happen upon a very intoxicated guide. 

Then over to the Gelatinous Cube, who has a hell of an addition this week; with a huge, soul-puking, devil.   

Full encounters here!  

This Goblin Wears Lipstick!

Where else to start but with goblins? 

In the first episode of Gelatinous Cube we discuss Rosie's encounter, This Goblin Wears Lipstick! We discuss the importance of explicit clues, the demands of combat, and the alluring possibility of a goblin Glenn Close. Then we head deeper into the dungeon for an audience with a very chaotic Goblin King, as imagined by the Gelatinous Cube and David Bowie.  

Full encounter notes here.

Rosie designed this encounter as a prologue to the Mörk Borg scenario The Goblin Grinder, an excellent little module by Ripley Caldwell. Cheers Ripley!

Gelatinous Cube: BLOG ZONE

Hello and welcome to the Gelatinous Cube blog! Gelatinous Cube is a podcast about crafting meaningful encounters in Dungeons and Dragons and other TTRPG's, hosted by siblings and hardworking dungeon masters Rosie and Adam. 

Every episode we get forensic on an RPG encounter: why it works, where it could - or did - go wrong and what's cool about it. Whether you play narrative or sandbox, OSR or 5e we want to give you useful tools for thinking about your game.

And that's what this blog is for. The encounters that we discuss on the show will always be written up in one way or another, whether in the form of a random table, or a map, or a stat block. You'll find these write-ups here, along with the musings of our third member, the dungeon-bound creative force that is the Gelatinous Cube. 

Join us!